Control system for ball winding machine



1963 v w. HARRIS 3,101,179

' CONTROL SYSTEM FOR BALL WINDING MACHINE Filed Oct. 7,v 1960 e Sheets-Sheet 1 A X By :Z/W%

Aug. 20, 1963 w. HARRIS CONTROL SYSTEM FOR BALL WINDING MACHINE 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 7, 1960 INVENTOR. 71 740444 flee/J 5 4 I firrae/uzd Aug. 20, 1963 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Oct. 7, 1960 1 IN VEN TOR. mum/w fizz/r Aug. 20, 1963 w. HARRIS CONTROL SYSTEM FOR BALL WINDING MACHINE W 8X N6 QQPSNQQN NKHQQQQQQ MSG VINVENTOR.

irraeA/gz '6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed 0ct.-7, 1960 winding to a ball. production of game balls such as volley balls, basketballs, baseballs, etc., and also commercial balls which are used as CONTRQL SYSTEM FOR BALL WINDING MACHINE William Harris, Los Angeles, Calif., ass'ignor toWL J- Voit Rubber Corporation, a corporation of California Filed Get. 7, 1960, Ser. No. 61,169

1 Claim. (Cl. 242-3) This invention relates to an apparatus for applying a The invention is applicable to the floats, buoys, fish-net buoys and other hollow, spherical articles requiring a reinforcing winding 101' a carcass made of fine string, thread or wire.

The thread windings, tor a winding, as it will be called in this specification (the completed layer of wound thread) fixes the size of a ball and provides a very strong flex-- ib le'layer on the ball which can resist pressure of air pumped into the ball. Such pressure may be of the order of thirty pounds per square inch and such pressure requires a very strong winding. It is not difiicult to specify the parameters of an ideal winding: it should be as light, strong, thin, uniform in thickness and strength,

andas smooth, as possible, and also-have good dynamic I characteristics,i.e. good bounce when used on game balls.

The windings of the prior art constitute a very poor approximation of this ideal goal and it is the principal object of this invention to approach the ideal much closer than the prior art by providing a machine for producing a winding having the above desired characteristics. For example, the weight of the disclosed winding is between 200%-400% lighter than the windings of the prior art,

and its tensile strength, as measured by the burst pressure, is approximately from -200 %1,000% greater than the strength of the balls using a cotton yarn for its wind- .United States Patent ice i Patented Aug. 20,1963

. 2 plete turns produced during the wind period. The oscillation of the axis of the ball determines the position of the individual 360 turns on the outer surface of the ball, and the position of the turns with respectto each-other 'during each wind period. The angular spacing between a 1 group of turns of two successive program cycleswith re- 'spect to each other on the balls surface is determined by the duration of the pause perio'dgf This will become more apparent from the description of FIGURES 9, .10 and 11.

Each of the successive wind periods within the program cycles comprises a group of turns which may be compared with, and which resemble and approachin their geometry, a series of intersecting great circles of longitude on a globe representing the earth. Thus, the

successive ind-ividualturns of a wind period intersect in two diametrically opposite polar regions of the globe.

. The transition from one wind period to' another is accom plished simply by continuing the final, last turn'of a preceding wind period along a true great circle for a predetermined fraction ofa turn during the pause period of each program cycle and then repeating the original .wind 'period with the ensuing successive turns intersecting. at a new pairof polar regions. Therefore, the new pair of polar regions is displaced from the preceding pair by an ing. Moreover, the balls wound with cotton yarn suffer y from excessive weight, poor shape of the winding, poor external smoothness, excessive thickness of the winding,

' form and exception-ally smooth coverage of the entire ball'surface with minimum yardage of very fine thread and cord, and'secondly, by closely approaching great circles in the individual turns, thus enhancing the individual I strengthof each turn and its ability to make a maximum contribution to the optimum dynamic characteristics of the finished product.

The disclosed apparatus for applying the Winding to a ball is an electrically and mechanically controlled apparatus, in which the electric elements cont-rolthe opera-- tion of the mechanical components of the ball-winding machine. Briefly stated, the control system continuously controls each program cycle consisting of two time intervals. The program cycle is the cycle which has a win period, :or a wind time interval, and apause period.

During the wind period the machine winds a thread on the surface of a ball following a predetermined path which continuously approximates a great circle. the pause period, the thread follows the path of a circle which may be a true great circle or'a small circle. The two time periods constitute the program cycle. The duration of the wind period determines the number of com- This produces an efficient use of the During iponents of the ball-winding machine.

are of a great circle having a predetermined length and also in a predetermined direct-ion, as determined by the 1 duration of the pause period within each program cycle.

In one specific example, the position of the poles corresponds to the positions of the apexes in an icosahedron,

and the total winding includesa plurality of icosahedrons displaced with respect to each other along the surface of a ball. It isalso possible to produce a random distribution of the"win'd periods over the surf-ace of the ball and a random' di'stribution of the pause periods,these pause periods also having a random distribution of the duration of these pause periods. This will be described more in detail in connection with the description of the timing disc used for controlling the distribution, of the wind and pause periods.

' The disclosed apparatus for applying the winding to a I ball is' an electrically controlled apparatus Whichpermits the introduction of a large number of timed program cycles. It-is possible to select and modify each pro.- gram cycle and the number of the program cycles used, or contained, in the .complete cycle. The meaning of these two terms, the program cycle and the complete cycle will become more apparent from the description of the programming system, which is the electro-mechanical'tirning system controlling the mechanical comh As mentioned previously, the program'cycle has a wind period, or time interval, and the pause period, the two time periods constituting the complete program cycle. All of the parameters of the program cycle can be varied by means of the programming system and since each individual cycle may be made to be identical to all other program cycles or may be madejto dilfer from all other program cycles, it becomes necessary to introduce the additional term, the

complete cycle which defines, or describes, the number of theindividu'al program'cycles included in the complete cycle. By definition lthen, it means that the complete cycle mayv include a variable number of the program cycles. -In the illustrated electro mechanical timing system such'n-umber of the program cycles within the complete cycle mayvary because it is possible to use dilferent timing discs provided with openings which act as electronicgatesin the system. j

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a machine for making a wound ball with awinding having a controlled patterflproducihg a recognizable and accurately"predetermined winding that results in eflicient use of the winding material and obtains a very the other.

Ii strong and yet thin, flexible and light winding having a very uniform thickness throughout the periphery of the ball, very smooth outer surface, and excellent dynamic characteristics.

:It is an additional object of this invention to provide an electro-mechanically controlled ball-winding machinewhich is capable of producing a winding on a 'ball having a predetermined controllable pattern.

It is an additional object of this invention to provide a machine of the above type in which the parameters of the program cycle and of the complete cycle, may be varied in a predetermined, predictable manner;

It is also an object of this invention to provide a control system for a ball-winding machine of the above type.

The novel features which are believed to be characteristic of the invention, both as to .its organization and method of operation, together with further objects and advantages thereof, will be better understood from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which one embodiment of the invention is illustrated as an example of the invention. it is to be expressly understood, however, that the drawings are for thepurpose of illustration and description only, and

are not intended as a definiton of the elements of the invention. Referring to the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the drive mechanism;

'FIG. 2 is the schematic diagram of the control system;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a timing disc;

FIG. 4 is a side view of the cam for driving and oscillating rod;

FIG. 5 is a side view of the timing disc and its motor taken along line 55, FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional view of the winding mecha- I control'system, and especially its function.

Before proceeding with the description of the winding machine, the winding patterns will be described first. They are illustrated in FIGS. 9-11. :In FIG. 9 two program cycles are illustrated. The first program cycle produces. seven turns 90 1-49tl7, and the second cycle produces seven turns Wilda-907a, displaced from the first set by an arc 900. In FIG. 9, the illustrated program cycles are of the type in which all of the turns produced during one program cycle intersect at two polar regions 910 and 91th:. There are two polar regions 910-and 910a on the visible hemisphere of the ball, and there are two additional polar regions on the opposite hemisphere, which is not visible in FIG. 9. The successive turns are displaced from each other by an angle 911:1, 91112 which, in the illustrated example is in the order of 15. Thexangle subtended, by are 900 may vary from one program cycle to [in FIG. 9 it is in the order of 6080. Angle 911. remains constantthroughout all the program cycles in the selected example because the ball isrotated at constant angular velocity and its axis is oscillated durthe rotation of the ball is such that it makes more than one complete cycle.

l one complete revolution during one complete oscillation of its axis of rotation, then the pattern is of the type illustrated in FIG. 10. When one complete revolution of the ball takes place in less than one complete oscillation of its axis of rotation, then the pattern is of the type illustrated in FIG. 11. The polar regions in FIGS. 10 and I l are dispersed over arcs passing through points il-1004 and Emil -1:105. The turns in FIG. 10 are 10054011 and 1105-1111 in FIG. 11.

For a more detailed description of the individual turns, a group of turns produced during each program cycle and especially the mathematical treatment of these turns, reference is made to the following pending applications for patent of Rudolph G. Holman having the same assignee: S.N. 513,280, filed June 6, 1955, entitled, Ball "Winding Method and Apparatus.

S.N. 705,994, filed December 30, 1957, entitled, A Wound Ball, the Method of Winding the Ball, and the Machine for Winding the Ball, which are made a part of this disclosure.

It would be helpful to describe next the complete cycle with the aid of FIG. 12, which graphically illustrates a sequence of the timing intervals occurring during Referring to FIG. 12, itillustrates the positions of the openings and of the opaque portions on a timing disc 26, FIGS. 1, 3 and 5, plotted along an abscissa 1200. In FIG. 3, disc 26 has eleven apertures 2-3-4955 and an equal number of opaque portions 39-49. The openings, or apertures, 28*38 are used for determining the durations of the individual pause periods, and the opaque portions 3949' are used for determining the durations of the wind periods.-

It is obvious that the use of the openings 28-38 and of the opaque portions 39-49 may be'reversed, except that the duration of the Wind periods should always be longer than the duration of the pause periods. The duration of the pause periods need not be equal to each other and the duration of the wind periods need not be equal to each other. Some pause periods maybe longer than others, and this is illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 12 by making some of the apertures in disc 26 longer than This is also true of the wind periods, the duraothers. tion of which is determined by the lengths of the individual arcs 39*49'.

One complete revolution of the timingdisc 26 constitutes one complete cycle, as illustrated in FIG. 12, and one wind period plus one pause period constitute a program cycle. In the light of what is illustrated in FIG. 12, it follows that the complete cycle constitutes that period of time which'is required for disc 26 to make one complete revolution, and it is composed of a plurality of wind" and pause periods, the number of these periods in one complete cycle being determined by the number of the apertures and the opaque sectors conon a frame 10 and a sub-frame 11. A synchronous,

constant speed motor 12 is connected to a gear reduction box 13 which reduces the speed of rotation of a shaft '17 as compared to the speed of rotation of a motor shaft 50. Shaft 17 is keyed to clutch 1-4 in the manner indicated in FIG. 2. Disc 15 is keyed to the left portion 52 of the split shaft, which is surrounded by the brake winding 16 in the manner indicated in FIG. 2 and shaft 52 is normally free to rotate in its bearings 18 and 19 which support the left portion 52 of the split shaft 17-52. Shaft 52. can slide back and forth in the manner indicated by an arrow '54 illustrated in FIG. 2. When *clutch 14 is energized, the ferro-mag'netic disc 15 is atde-energized and the brake winding 16- is energized, the

the oscillation of'rod 23 and of crank shaft 21. oscillation rod 23 controls the operation of the ball centraldisc 15 becomes disconnected from clutch 14 and becomes connected to the brake Winding 16. Brake winding 16-is-mounted on a bracket 54 which, in turn, is

connected to sub-frame 11. The brake winding 16, therefore, arrests the rotation of shaft 52 which in turn stops The winding machine in the manner, which will be described I later.

Referring now to 'FIG. 2;. the timing disc 26 is connected to and is rotated at a constant speed by a constant speed synchronous motor 55. The shaft 56 of motor 55 is connected to a gear reduction box 57 and the gears in box 57 are connected to a shaft 53 of disc 26. The

outer rim, or the' periphery, of disc 26 is positioned between a source of light59 and a photo-electric cell Light 59 is energized frcm a source of electric current 61} and the photo-electriccell-fl is connected to a source of direct current 62. The relay winding 63 is connected in series with-the photo-electric cell 61 and source 63 and, therefore, whenever photo-electric cell 61 becomes energized, current 'flows through the photo-electric cell circuit, which includes winding 63, and relay 63 becomes energized; Relay 63 is provided with an armature 64 which is pivoted on a pivot 65 and is biased by means of a spring 66 so that, normally, i.e. when the photo-electric cell 61 is not energized, armature '64'makes lcontact with a contact 67. Armature 64 is connected I to a full wave rectifier 69 by a conductor 75. 'Re'ctifier 69 is connected to a source of alternating current through conductors 7t and 71.. Armature 64 and rectifier 69 are "connected to the clutch winding 14 and brake winding j 16 with the aid of conductors 72, 73, 74, '75 and 76. When armature 64 rests on conductor 67, it connects clutch winding 14 tofthe rectifier through conductors 74, 76, 72 and 75. When armature .64 is on contact 68, then it connects the brake winding 68 to the rectifier row on one side of the rod and ten additional stationsbeing arranged in the second row on the other side of rod 23, the two rows being in a backto-back relationship with respect to each other with the reciprocating rod 23 being a common element' for' both rows.

The plan view and the side view of one complete station, or unit, of the above type is illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7. These figuresalso illustrate a partial view of the adjacent back-to back unit. Referring to FIGS. 6, 7 and 8, where the same elements bear the same numerals, the

.two rows of stations are mounted on two elevated coplanar platforms or base plates 111%.. :Each of the winding stations has a drive roller 112 and two beveled idler I rollers 114 which cooperate to provide a three-point seat for supporting, rotating and oscillating the axis of rotation of a ball B. At each of the winding stations a thread ..type-holder 122 on an upright support rod 124. The spray heads are connected to pipes 125 and 126 which are housed in a longitudinal channel 128 along each row of stations. f Compressed air is supplied from pipe 125 to each of. the spr-a'y'heads 120 through a flexible hose 130 controlled by a valve .132 and a liquid cement from pipe 126 is fed to the spray head-through a hose 134 having .a valve 135. A third hose 136 is connected to each spray head for remote control of the operation of the gun by air pressure. In the presently preferred practice of the invention the liquid cement supplied by pipe 126 is a conmaroneindene resin but other adhesive liquids can be through conductors '75, 73- and 72. Therefore, the clutch or brake windings becomes energized alternately, depend ing upon the state of relay 63. Relay 63 is energized I when the light from the source of lights? passes through an aperture 77, which is the case when the ball winding machine has a pause period. This is the timeperiod illustrated in-FIG. -1, with the armature 64 resting on contact 68. This means that the brake winding 16 is .energized,which stops the oscillation of rod 23. During the pause period illustrated in FIG. 2 (photo-cell 61 1s conductive) the machine winds at great circle or a small circle on the surface 'of' the ball, this portion of the winding being illustrated by the arc 900 in FIG. 9.

Proceeding now with thedescription of the winding apparatus FIGS. 6, 7', and 8 disclose the mechanical portion of the ball win-ding machine The synchronous motors 12 FIG. '1 and 55 FIG. 5 are connected to a power line through an appropriate switch or switches (not illustrated) and these switches remain closed as long as the winding machine is in operation. Therefore, motor 12 provides a constant speed drive for the reciprocating rod 23' which is thus reciprocated in synchroms-m with the remaining drive mechanisms of the machine. These additional drive mechanisms are also driven by the synchronous motors connected to the same source of A.C. power having a constant frequency. Ac-

cording-ly, as long as the synchronous motor, 12 and all frequency source, the programming of the program-cycle and of the complete cycle is determined by the signals pro duced by the timing disc 26 and its circuits which are then impress-ed on the clutch and brake windings.

The. reciprocating rod23 may control any number'jof in 20 units, or stations, ten station'sbeing arranged in a single used in various practices of the invention.

The tworows of winding stations are provided with an upright frame structure 138 mounted onthe top of base plate 10 Frame 138 carries a central exhaust duct 140 for removing vaporsreleased by the spray heads 120. This duct has an intakepo-rt 141 at each winding station. Mounted on top of the frame structure 138 is a pair of 'rods 162 journaled in spaced bearings 144. Rods 1'42 extend throughthe entire length of the m-achine. Rotatably mounted on these rods 142 are a pluralityof overhanging arms 145, there being one arm at each winding station to weight down ballB and to hold it in positive engagement with the drive roller'112 and the oscillating rollers 114. Each of theseoverhead arms 145 carries a small pressure roller, or caster, 146 in a swivel bracket 148. The swivel bracket 148 has a shank 150' that extends through a longitudinal slot 152 in the overhead arm and isadjustably retained therein by a pair of nuts 154.

Each oftheoverhanging arms 145 is independently rotatable on the corresponding shaft 142 and may be individually and manual-ly'swung up and back to permit replacement of a ballat the winding station. If desired, however, all of the overhangingarms 145011 either of the two shafts 142 may be raised simultaneously by rotation of the shaft. For this purpose each of the overhanging arms 145 has a rearw'ardly' extending flange 155 which normally rests against an adjustable screw 156-carried by a. finger 158. The finger 158 is unitary with a sleeve 160' that is fixedly mounted on the corresponding shaft 142. It is apparent that rotation of a shaft 142 ina direction to depress the fingers 158 thereon will cause all of the overhanging 'arms 145 on the shaft to be rotated upward.

Each of thewinding stations is partially enclosed by a suitable hood to cause the vapors released by the spraying operation to be confined and'drawn off by the exhaust duct 140. The hood for, each winding station includes two .1 side. walls 164, FIG. 7, a front-wall and a top cover 166 FIG. 6 fastened to the overhanging arm 145.

All of the drive rollers 112 of the winding stations are connected throughiindividual gear boxes 167 FIG. 7 to the individual synchronous motors 168which are connected to the same source of alternating current as motors 12 and 55 in FIGS. 1 and 2. Motor 168 is manually operated by means of a start switch and stop switch, not shown in the drawings. This motor is also operated (stopped) by a revolutions counter 172 in the manner described be low. A metallic gutter 171 is used for housing the wiring for the electrical elements of the machine. Counter 172 is operated by a motor 168; counter 172 counts the number of revolutions made by ball B and after a predetermined number of revolutions of ball B, counter 172 disconnects motor 168 and stops the rotations of ball B. After counter 172, receives a predetermined number of electrical pulses, or mechanical actuations (it may be either a mechanical or an electrical actuation; revolution counters of this type are known to the art) it automatically shuts off motor 168 independent of the manually operated switches 169 and 17 0. In this manner each ball receives a predetermined number of complete turns of thread which then comprise a completed winding uniformly covering the entire ball. The operator then removes the'wound ball, inserts a new ball, having no winding, connects thread 100 to the surface of the new ball by manuallyw-inding several times, depresses the' counter switch 173 which manually resets the counter back to the zero reading again starts the winding period of the next program cycle.

As best shown in FIG. 8, each of the beveled idler rollers 114 is mounted by means of ball bearings 192 on a spindle 194 which is carried by an inclined sleeve 195.

Inclined sleeve is fixedly held by a set screw 19d on an inclined pivot pin 198 and the opposite ends of the pivot pin are journaled in suitable bearing bushings 200 in a bracket 202. Each of brackets 2.02 is bolted to frame 110 by a stud 204 and is secured against rotation on the frame by. a suitable key or dowel 205.

Sleeve 195, that carries spindle 194, has a control arm 206, FIG. 7, for oscillation of the idler roller 114 about the axis of inclined pivot pin 198. As best-shown in FIG. 7, the two control arms 206 of the two. idler rollers 114 at each winding station are connected by a pair of corresponding links 208 to an angular bracket 210. vAll of the angular brackets 210 of the two rows of winding stations are fixedly mounted'on the longitudinally reciproeating rod 23 (see also FIGS. 1 and 2 for rod 23) that is slidingly mounted in suitable bearings 214. Rod 23 is reciprocated longitudinally by cam 2-550 (FIG. 4) as described previously, to cause simultaneous oscillation of all of the idler rollers 114 of the two rows of the winding stations and it is the oscillation of the rollers 114 that produces a corresponding shifting of the position of the rotational axis that makes the thread to follow the paths illustrated in FIGS. 9, and 11. When reciprocation of rod 23 takes place in a period of time equal exactly to the period of time required for ball B to make one revolution (1:1 ratio) then the thread will follow the pattern illustrated in FIG. 9. Theoretically, the polar regions 910 and 91011 are two points rather than a diffused region. In practice, however, there is a sufiicient amount of variable slippage between the ball, the drive wheel 112 and the oscillating rollers 114 so as to spread the polar point into a'region of the type illustratedin FIG. 9. Practicable ratios aresuch as 111.005 minimum and 1:1.05 maximum.

For a more detailed description of the patterns and of the machine per se (FIGS. 6, 7 and 8) reference is made once more to the applications S.N. 513,280 and SN. 705,994.

The examination of FIGURES 3 and 12 indicates that the illustrated complete cycle is composed of eleven pause periods and eleven wind periods. Theduration of the consecutive pause periods is difierent and the duration of the consecutive wind periods is also different. Therefore, the pause periods are not equal to each other and the wind periods are not equal to each other. Some of the pause periods are longer thanothers and this is also true of the wind periods. It has been stated previously that the duration of the pause periods is determined by the width of the apertures 28 through 38 while the duration of the wind periods is determined by the length of the arcs between the apertures. They are the arcs 39 through 49. It is possible to obtain a combination of the pause periods as well as of the wind periods so that there is a substantially random distribution, or a controlled random distribution, of the turns composing the winding which, as the actual experimental data indicates, represents the best distribution of turns for obtaining a winding of uniform thickness, strength, and bounce characteristics.

It also has been mentioned previously that it is possible to vary the duration of the pause periods aswell as the duration ofthe wind periods with the aid of thecontrol system. This can be achieved in several ways. The first method for achieving the above is illustrated in FIG. 3. It is obtained by means of a plurality of adjustable plates, such as plate 78, which is so arranged that it can be shifted either to the left or right as viewed in FIGS for making aperture 30 either wider or narrower. This is accomplished withthe aid of a winged nut 79 and a slot 30 in plate 78 which is mounted on disc 26. Although only one plate 7 8 is illustrated in FIG. 3, it is obvious that the same arrangement can be obtained with the remaining apertures so that all of them become adjustable. This is the manual method for adjusting the duration of the pause and wind periods.

The second method of adjusting the duration of the pause and wind periods as well as the number of pause and wind periods included in the complete cycle is obtained by means of a plurality of discs of the type illustrated in MG. 3. This is obtained by having a plurality of discs with diiierent number of apertures, of different width, etc., and then manually replacing one disc with another on shaft 27 in order to produce a different combination of the pause and wind periods in the complete cycle.

The same can be also obtained, if so desired, automatically by having a plurality of timing discs rotated by the same motor and having a corresponding plurality of sources of light and photo-electric cells, one cell and one light for each disc and then switching from one disc to another either manually or automatically, diversifying the types of pause and wind periods obtained in respective cycles. The necessity-for such type of system is rather remote because it is possible to obtain entirely sufficient random distribution of the pause and wind periods with the aid of one disc such as disc 26 as long as the aper tures and opaque sectors on the disc have a controlled random distribution along the periphery of the disc.

A purely electric means for varying the duration of the pause and wind periods consists in varying the frequency of the source of electrical energy which supplies the motive power for the synchronous motor 55 which drives disc 26. By varying this frequency in any desired manner, it becomes possible to achieve a variation in the pause periods as well as in the wind periods either within the individual program cycle or from complete cycle to com plete cycle even though a single disc 26 is used for con trolling the duration of these periods.

From the above it follows that this system may have as much versatility, insofar as variation of the duration of the pause and windperiods is concerned, as the electronic control systems using electronic computers disclosed in the earlier application S.N. 705,994. The advantage of this control system, as compared to the electronic computer-controlled system, is in its simplicity and reliability because the reliability of the disclosed system depends only on the reliability of the alternating current source used for operating the synchronous motors and, as is well known, such electrical power supply systems are extremely reliable. This cannot be said of the computers all which use a multitude of transistors, stepping amplified 1 tube and stepping switches, the tubes and the switches being the weakest links in the computer chain.

It also should be noted that two separate synchronous motors are used for driving disc 26 and for reciprocating rod 2 3. This being the case, and since duration of the pause and wind periods differs from one program cycle to the next program cycle, it follows that the beginning of the pause period and the beginning of the wind period will take place when rod 23 is in diflerent positions during its reciprocating cycle. Therefore, the controlled random distribution of the turns of the program cycle is obtained not only because of the variable width of the pause apertures and variable length of the wind sectors, but also because of the fact that the beginning of the wind and pause periods changes continuously With respect to the position of the reciprocating rod 23, this nod 23 accordingly also contributing for obtaining a controlled random distribution of turns and of the pause periods in the completed winding of the ball.

What is claimed as new is:

A control system for an apparatus suitable for winding a cord on a spherical body by continuously rotating said body solely around a first axis during variable duration pause periods and simultaneously rotating said body around said first axis and a second axis during variable duration wind periods, said system including first means, including a first motor, for rotating said body around said second axis only during said wind periods, and stopping the rotation of said body around said second axis during said pause periods; second means, including a second motor, for continuously rotating said body around said first axis during said wind and pause periods; electrically operated clutch and brake means between said first motor and said first means for connecting and disconnecting said first motor to and from said first means with the aid of said clutch means, relay means for energizing said clutch means and de-energizing said brake meansfor the duration of said wind periods and then de-energizing said clutch means and energizing said brake means for the duration of said pause periods, and a control circuit connected to said relay means for alternately energizing and de-energizing said relay means, said control circuit including a disc having a plurality of apertures and opaque sectors between said apertures all located around a circular axis on said disc, said apertures and said sectors having'diiferent dimensions along the length of said arcuate axis, means for rotating said disc at a substantially constant angular velocity, and a source of light and a photoelectric element on the opposite sides of said disc, said photoelectric element being connected to and alternately energizing and de-energizing said relay for variable periods of time, said variable periods of time corresponding to the variable duration periods of said pause and wind periods, whereby said control system produces a substantially random distribution of turns of said cord on said spherical body.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,111,014 Vedder Mar. 15, 1938 2,995,311 Holman Aug. 8, 1961 FOREIGN PATENTS 219,376 Australia Dec. 22, 1958 

